Commercially, the first recognizable hiphop track was 'Uhiki' by Hardstone (Harrison Ngujiri), though some quarters classify it as reggae. Personnaly i can recall jamming to this track back in the days. It was released in 1997 from the album 'Nuting but de Stone'. The song was produced by Tedd Josiah and was primarily done in the Kikuyu language.This became a springboard that helped bring out several other artistes who took the industry to another level.
Among those to emerge during this era was Kalamashaka (also known as K-Shaka).
This was a group of three emcees (Kama, Johnny and Oteraw) who hailed from Dandora estate. They emerged at a time during the reign of former President Moi and released tracks which had heavy political undertones. Their first big hit was 'Tafsiri Hii' which addressed social and political issues that the country and the youth were facing. Other recognizable tracks by Kalamashaka at this time include 'Ni Wakati' and 'Fanya Mambo'. With the track 'Fanya Mambo', they went international having done the video for the track in Sweden. This was also the first time a Kenyan hiphop video was airing on Channel O, which i believe was no mean achievement especially at that time.Kalamashaka helped change the direction in which kenyan hiphop was taking by giving confidence to artistes to express themselves openly in regards to social matters and political injustices.
Just around the same time we also had K-South Flava who represented the hood of Kariobangi South. This group comprised of two artistes; Bamboo and Jerry Doobeez (also known as Abbas). The duo came out with a new style whereby they used metaphors in a comical way to express various messages in their tracks. They also took the art of rhyming to another level, moving away from the simple rhymes and embracing complex rhymes in a very intelligent way. Some of their biggest hits that brought them into the limelight included 'Tabia Mbaya', 'Nairobbery' and 'Mr Policeman'.
RELATED POSTS:
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 1: The Beginnings
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 3: The Growth
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 4: The Media Role
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 5: The Dilution
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 6: Current State and the Future
No comments:
Post a Comment